Seattle, Washington is in the Pacific Northwest about 100 miles south of the Canadian border. Its population is about 617,000 and lies on approximately 83.87 square miles of land (5.3). The story behind Seattle’s composting program is surprisingly similar to San Francisco’s and shows that a trend towards sustainability seems to be developing in cities around the country. In 2007, Seattle City Council President, Richard Conlin, introduced a Zero Waste Strategy resolution to the rest of the council. Resolution 30990’s goals were similar to the ones presented in San Francisco’s ordinance, although they were less demanding. According to the resolution, by 2012 the city was supposed to be recycling 60% of its waste and 70% by 2025. The methods for achieving these goals included expanding recycling centers, reducing waste on construction and demolition sites, and composting, along with other strategies (5.4). The composting section of the resolution stated that Seattle was to implement a program on April 1, 2009 to provide all single-family homes with “organics collection” and require them to participate unless they were already composting in their backyards. Multi-family buildings would also have the service, but on a voluntary basis. The 9 city council members passed the resolution unanimously on July 16, 2007 (5.4). This is how it works:Collection:In Seattle, as in San Francisco, the collection of food and yard waste also happens together, but depending on the size of the bin residents order, the costs can differ. Seattle residents can choose to have a 13, 32, or 96-gallon green bin, but the price of collection goes up with the size. The city does not give out anything other than the outside bins, so people have to use their own containers to get food waste from their homes to the bin. Grass clippings, leaves, branches, weeds, food scraps, and soiled/ shredded paper can go in the yard waste bins to be composted, but fats, oils, and grease are strictly prohibited. This is because most composting processes can’t break down these materials fast enough to keep up with the rest of the decomposing matter (5.1). For a full list of what can be put in the green bins in Seattle, click here. The Seattle residents’ green bins get picked up the same day as their trash and recycling bins every week (6). Before the resolution took effect yard waste was only picked up bi-weekly, but in order to reduce smell and make sure people remember to put their food scraps in the bin, they increased collection to every week (6). Since Seattle is relatively large, the city uses two different companies to pick up and transport the compost material (5). Waste Management services South and Northwest Seattle and CleanScapes takes care of the Central and Northeast parts of the city. These companies then take what was in the green bins to the Cedar Grove processing plant 25 miles south of Seattle itself (7). Processing:Cedar Grove Composting is the company that processes all of Seattle’s organic waste (7). Since they began composting they have gone through many different methods, but in 2002 added the newest component to their system: the Gore Cover In-Vessel System. Their compost goes through a similar grinding, mixing, and piling process as San Francisco’s does, but instead of just leaving the piles in the open air to decompose they cover it with a Gore-Tex fabric. This fabric stretches over the entire pile, controlling smell, keeping in moisture, and allowing for a constant temperature throughout (7.1). This compost goes through four stages, or “zones,” before it is completely decomposed. For four weeks the compost pile stays under the Gore-Tex fabric and is not touched (7.1). It is then moved to another location for two weeks, under the same fabric, but water is added to speed up the decomposition and allow moisture to enter the environment. The pile is then moved to another uncovered zone and let sit for two weeks. The final step in the process is to force the compost through a screen to sift out any abnormally large pieces that have not decomposed (7.1). Only 15 days later the compost is ready to sell and is as good as any fertilizer on the market (7.1).

Distribution:Once the food and plant waste have become organic compost it is packaged by Cedar Grove and is sold back to farmers and residents (6). Because people have to buy the compost back if they want to use it, many have started their own backyard compost systems. The city gives out free information detailing exactly how residents should go about building and maintaining their own compost systems. According to a Seattle Times article that ran April 15, 2010, since the program started in 2009, Seattle’s compost rates rose by 47% and are now ten times higher than the national average (6).